How long?
by bhswen
Summary: Sasuke returned to konoha two years after he left...now three years later, everyone seems to be having perfect lives, except naruto. why? read to find out! rated PG 13 for language, pairings for you romantics out there, but you'll have to read to find out
1. Deal's a deal

Hey, this is my first story, so give me any comments, good or bad, i dont care.. This story is just sorta following my idea of what should happen in the naruto series...and sasuke's return is based purely on imagination also, so please don't bother me by saying me how my story doesn't adhere to the real story line...I've also tried to keep the characters' original personalities, but then again, they've grown up, so ive tried to show that while not totally changing their old personalities. ok enough of this, read on and leave some reviews, and hope you enjoy my crappy work!

PS: this will turn out to be a series so look out for upcoming chapters!

Kakashi looked at the three ninjas before him, making sure that they were ready. Satisfied, he dropped the kunai he was holding and simply said, "Go."

They were on each other in a flash.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Sasuke and Naruto were on each other as soon as the battle had started. Naruto had conjured up four of his shadow clones and had them charge straight at his rival. Sasuke had already released one of his many fire jutsus, and incinerated the clones before they got ten feet of him.

When the dust cleared, Sasuke charged forward, all but ready to catch his opponent off guard, only to find that he wasn't there. The young shinobi shifted his onyx black eyes, in hopes to find a glimpse of the blond-haired moron.

His search ended quickly as a kunai came whistling through the hair. He moved out of the way, letting the dagger hit the ground with a thud.

"GOTCHA!!!" Naruto cried as he launched himself from underground, where he had been hiding. The grin of triumph on Naruto's face was quickly replaced with a grimace of pain as a flying side kick hit him in the side of the head. He was flung into the air, landing on his face as he slid about two feet on the ground. He looked up angrily, rubbing the spot where the kick had landed.

"Ah, come on Sakura-chan! You're not allowed to help! Is she allowed to help?" Naruto turned to Kakashi in search of an answer, only to find that Sasuke had placed himself in front of Naruto, holding a kunai right in front of his shining blue eyes.

"Well I guess that's it then Naruto," Kakashi called from behind Sasuke, "You know what happens now, don't you?"

Naruto's eyes widened in horror, "Ah, come on Kakashi-sensei! This fight wasn't fair at all. Please, one more chance? Please?"

"Sorry Naruto," Sasuke said with a grin, as he raised the kunai above his head, "A deal's a deal."

"GOD DAMMNIT, I WANNA RE-DO!!!!" Naruto screamed, as Sasuke swiftly brought down the kunai.

_Thud!_

The dagger planted itself on the ground, point first, right next to Naruto's pleading form.

"You're buying us dinner!" Sakura laughed triumphantly. Kakashi grinned widely, and Sasuke held his hand forward to help Naruto up.

"Let's go, stupid," Sasuke said as he yanked Naruto up onto his feet.

"I still don't see why Kakashi-sensei just didn't pay for all of us," Naruto muttered, "I mean, really, Sakura-chan's been recognized as one of the best medical-nins in history, you became part of the ANBU, and I just became a jounin. And what the hell has he done? Read through book one hundred twenty-seven of Ero-sennin's series..."

Sasuke let a small smile play on his lips as he looked at Naruto and replied, "Suck it up, and pull out your wallet, because I have a feeling that Sakura and Kakashi are hungry. In fact, I'm starting to get a bit ravenous myself."

"Damn," Naruto uttered, and Sasuke chuckled softly, before jogging off to join the other two that had already started walking back towards town.

Naruto grinned good-naturedly and brushed off his pants. He was just about to walk off when he noticed that Sasuke had never retrieved his kunai from the ground. Deciding to do him a favor, Naruto picked it up and was about to call for Sasuke, when he suddenly stopped at the sight before him

Sasuke had gotten into step with Sakura, and was walking very close to her. Slowly, Sasuke's hand grasped Sakura's in an almost embarrassed way, before Sakura tightened her hand in response, and Sasuke did likewise.

The smile on Naruto's face faltered, and he slowly put Sasuke's kunai into his pocket. "Damn..." Naruto repeated sullenly. Naruto stood there for a minute, trying to clear out his head, when Sakura's voice called out, "Come on Naruto! Did you forget already that you're paying or are you just trying to skip out?"

That brought him back to reality and he put a smile back onto his face, though it wasn't as wide or as bright as the one before. He pushed the troubling thoughts into the back of his mind and he ran to catch up with the others.


	2. What did you expect?

first of all, this story will not be a sasunaru pairing, so im really sorry to all of you out there who was expecting it to be, hope it doesn't discourage you not to read this storylooks at audience hopefully hahha, anyway, three new chapters today, so hope you enjoy. Thanks to the two people who reviewed this story, and hope you review again. For those of you who havent reviewed this, read and review please! the reviews can be positive or negative, i dont care, just bring in the reviews!

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"Woo! That was a good meal!" Sakura breathed as she pushed away her fourth plate of a sashimi and sushi combo platter.

"Yea..." Sasuke replied as he finished off his own plate of filleted salmon.

"I've got to admit Naruto, you sure brought us to a great place," replied Kakashi as he walked over from another table. Even after all the years they had spent together, Kakashi had never once revealed his face, not for the lack of trying made by Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.

Naruto simply looked at them, his mouth aghast as he switched his view between his comrades, and the meals that they had eaten.

"K...Kakashi-sensei? What exactly did you order?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

"Me? I ordered the poached eel," Kakashi said off-handedly.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief and leaned back in his chair thinking, _At least he ordered cheap...well cheap compared to Sasuke and Sakura._

"For my appetizer. And then as my main course, I ordered the imperial crab and a 4 lb. lobster tail."

"WHAT!!!!" Naruto exclaimed as he toppled off his chair.

"What? Did you expect me to be satisfied with just poached eel?" Kakashi asked, looking at Naruto as if he'd said something stupid.

"Your check," a waiter said as he came by with a small slip of paper.

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura all pointed at Naruto.

The waiter handed Naruto the check, and quickly walked off, leaving Naruto flabbergasted as he stared at the slip of paper.

"N...n... NINE THOUSAND YEN?!" Naruto screamed.

"Well Naruto, we'll let you handle this, and we'll be on our way," Kakashi called over his shoulder, as he and the other two left. As they walked out, Naruto saw Sasuke and Sakura holding hands again.

Naruto sullenly turned away, and looked at the bill, and pulled out his now worn-out frog coin purse, and emptied it out of all its money without even thinking about the amount. He put away his coin purse, and turned around to walk out the door, calling out, "Keep the change...", and with that he was gone.

The waiter came over to the table to pick up the cash when he stopped, eyes wide in shock. The kid had paid at least two thousand yen in cash, not including the small change. The waiter shook his head and slipped in about three hundred yen into his pocket before taking the payment off to the register.


	3. In the cherry blossom

Night had set upon the village of Konoha, and everyone was turning in for the night.

"So, I guess we're on for tomorrow night, right?" Sakura asked hopefully.

"Yea..." Sasuke murmured, staring into her bright jade eyes.

"Ok..." Sakura whispered, as they reached her home, "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yea..." Sasuke repeated, before kissing her on the forehead and pulling her into a hug, "I'll definitely see you tomorrow."

"Sasuke..." Sakura said softly.

He let go of her and said good-night, and walked off to his house. Sakura looked after him dreamily, before walking into her own.

They had no idea that they were being watched.

"Damn..." Naruto muttered from his hiding spot in a cherry blossom tree right next to Sakura's residence. He looked longingly after Sakura as she closed her front door. "Why did I have to wait so long?" Naruto asked himself, before leaping off the tree onto the next house's rooftop. He looked back at Sakura's house one last time before leaping from roof to roof, off to his own apartment.


	4. Who's fault?

As soon as Naruto had reached his apartment, he threw himself on his bed, without changing out of his ninja garb.

He sighed as he stared at the ceiling for a while, trying to mentally review what had happened in the last couple year.

The first thing that came to mind was the day that Sasuke had escaped from Orichimaru's clutches. He and Jiraiya had literally ran into the young Uchiha on that day.

Naruto had progressed well by that time. The two years spent with Jiraiya had done wonders to Naruto's shinobi abilities, and the pair was about to make their annual trip back to Konoha. Naruto smiled as he remembered the eagerness he had felt that day, an eagerness that was caused by his desire to see Sakura.

After the failed attempt to capture Sasuke before he reached Orichimaru, Naruto and Sakura had gotten rather close, or, at least that's what Naruto had thought. They helped comfort each other over the loss of their comrade at first, and eventually began to hang out together whenever Naruto would make his month-long return. They had spent a lot of time together, catching up on events that had happened while Naruto was gone, training together, going shopping together, and generally becoming the best of friends.

Naruto was particularly anxious to get to Konoha, because he had thought the time was right to finally ask Sakura out on a real date. He had had everything planned out, and was reviewing it, when he was rammed into in the side by some unknown object. When he turned his head to look at the offender, he had found himself staring into a pair of red eyes; red eyes, with three commas in them.

"Sasuke?!" Naruto had cried, "Is it you?"

"Naruto, there's no time, we have to get him to Konoha, he's hurt bad!" Jiraiya had yelled.

It was then that Naruto had noticed a large, gaping gash on Sasuke's back.

"Right!" Naruto had responded, and they were off.

It seemed that they had reached the village just in time, for Sasuke had lost a lot of blood it seemed. Naruto recalled waiting in the waiting room with Sakura and Kakashi, hoping that the Godaime was doing a good job on fixing up Sasuke. When Tsunade had come out of the emergency room, telling them that he was fine, Sakura had cried herself silly, and Naruto had to hold back his own tears.

For awhile, Sasuke was in recovery, and afterwards, he had been sent to the Hokage's office to be questioned. Even though they were all delighted that Sasuke had come back, the fact had still remained that he had run away from the village, and was still a traitor. But that had soon been fixed, for it seemed that not only had Sasuke escaped from Orichimaru, he also was able to manage to steal some of Orichimaru's plans from his base. After that, Sasuke had been fully reinstated to a Leaf shinobi.

After that, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke spent all their time together, telling each other in turn what had happened to themselves in the past two years. Sakura told Sasuke about her training as a medical-nin, while Naruto related his training with Jiraiya. In the end, Sasuke told them about how he was able to escape from Orichimaru and his army of Sound ninjas.

"I snuck off during the night," Sasuke had told them, as they sat in a small restaurant, "And I actually had a smooth travel back here until I was a day away from the village. About twenty of Orichimaru's men attacked me all at once."

He related the battle, and how he had managed to kill all them, but not without sustaining heavy damage. After that, there had been an awkward silence between them that was suddenly ended by Sasuke, who abruptly asked Sakura to see him alone. Before Naruto had known it, Sakura was going out with Sasuke, and he, Uzumaki Naruto, was left alone, once again.

Naruto snapped himself out of the memory, and stared up at the ceiling again.

"It's my fault. I waited way too long, so stop bitching about," he muttered to himself.

_No kid, it ain't your fault, it's that damn Sasuke's fault _Kyuubi said slyly.

"Shut up. It's not his fault, so just shut up," Naruto told the demon fox savagely.

_Heh _the Nine-Tails snorted _quit joking yourself kid. We both know it's pretty boy's fault. If it weren't for him, that whor...I mean Sakura would've been yours._

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP **_SHUT UP!!!_**" Naruto screamed, as he quickly applied a sleeping jutsu he had created himself for these type of situations.

_You know it's true..._ Naruto heard Kyuubi say before the jutsu immediately rendered both of them unconscious.

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there you go, three new chapters, hot off my hard drive! hope you guys enjoyed, and please review if you can spare some! any questions/comments/concerns about the story so far, or any suggestions for the next chapter of the story, feel free to do so in your reviews


	5. Surprise!

It was mid-morning before Naruto fully shook off the effects of the sleep jutsu from the night before. He sat up in bed, holding his head as he tried to set everything straight. He could fully recall what had happened from the night before, but he really didn't care about that. He was racking his brain to see what he had to do _today_. He was still trying to remember when it suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks. He was supposed to have gone down to the Hokage's office to get a mission that he'd signed up for months ago. He looked at the clock next to his bed; it read eleven o' clock. Naruto cursed; he only had thirty minutes left before he had to meet up with the Hokage. He quickly sprang out of bed, took a shower, got dressed, and was out the door in under fifteen minutes. Once he was outside, he quickly set off to the office.

He made it into Tsunade's office five minutes before the meeting was to take place. When he arrived, he looked around to find that she wasn't anywhere in sight. Naruto's instincts instantly put him on high alert: even though the Hokage would never let herself be captured, Naruto felt that he could not take the chance. He drew out a kunai and quickly looked around the room again. _What the hell is going on?_ Naruto thought, before he sensed a large amount of chakra flare in the room.

"Alright, come out, or I'll kill you!" Naruto screamed at the emptiness in the room.

The words had barely left his lips, when a cloud of smoke suddenly exploded within the room, blinding the young shinobi.

As the smoke began to clear, Naruto held his kunai at the ready, and faced...

"What the hell?" Naruto asked dumbstruck.

All of his friends were lined up behind a row of long tables, set with an enormous amount of food.

"Happy Birthday!" they all exclaimed.

Naruto could only gape in confusion as he dropped his kunai on the floor.

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hi, im really sorry i havent updated in awhile, and this chapter is really short, and really filler-ish....its not worth the reviews....but i'll come back with more later this week hopefully


	6. Whutcha been up to?

"Wait a minute, what's going on?" Naruto asked the smiling crowd before him.

"Well Naruto, remember that special mission I was going to give you?" replied the Fifth, as she stepped away from the crowd, dressed in her usual garb, except for the fluorescent birthday hat placed precariously on her head.

Naruto nodded dumbfounded.

"Well this is it: to actually celebrate your birthday!" Tsunade yelled merrily. Everyone behind her cheered.

"My…birthday?" Naruto asked quizzically. He thought back slowly, trying to get his bearings straight. He knew it was his birthday today, but something else nagged at his thoughts.

"So what?" Naruto asked, "I never celebrate my birthday, I never have."

"We know, Naruto, that's why we're celebrating it for you!" Kiba replied loudly, "I mean, come on, your turning eighteen! You can't tell me that you don't care about that!"

"Well, yeah, but…"

Before Naruto could finish his feeble argument, he was swarmed by the crowd of people, all wanting to wish him a happy birthday.

"Hey Naruto, happy eighteen, man!"

"Oi, Uzumaki, I didn't think you'd live to be eighteen!"

"Heh, who would've thought that you'd actually grow up!"

"Ha..Happy birthday Naruto-kun…"

Naruto turned his head toward the only voice he could make out from the bustle of noise, "Oh, hey Hinata! What have you been up to lately?"

The girl before him nervously started twiddling her fingers, in an attempt to stall for time, "Um…um …"

"'What has she been up to lately'?" Kiba repeated merrily, "You numbskull, she's the one that put this all together!"

"Really?" Naruto asked Hinata.

"Yea…" Hinata muttered, before she almost went into a nervous breakdown, still twiddling her fingers like mad.

"Thanks, Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed merrily. He grabbed her hands, causing her to stop twiddling her fingers, but also to make her start blushing until her face was as bright as a ripe tomato.

"Come on then, if I'm forced to celebrate my birthday, I'm taking you with me!" Naruto laughed merrily, and he and Hinata went to go hang out with the others.


	7. SelfPortrait

It was near nightfall before Naruto came back to his apartment, tired, but excited at the same time.

He dumped the gifts that he had gotten from his party on the floor and started to sift through each one, opening them as he went.

The first gift he decided to open was Ino's. He looked at it's floral wrapping for a second, before tearing it open to find a handbook entitled "Romance for Dummies". The note attached to it read,

"Hey Naruto, use this and talk to Hinata!"

At the end of the note, there was a little heart. Naruto looked at it confusedly, before setting it aside and reaching for the next present.

This one was from Shikamaru and Chouji. The two had worked together to give Naruto a bag that was filled with what they claimed to be a "new and improved" soldier pill. He grinned, knowing that this would be a valuable asset sooner or later on a mission.

The next one he chose again had two givers. Shino and Kiba both had given Naruto a box filled with Ramen of all the assorted flavors, and they had also left a note. It read:

"Naruto, you better take good care of Hinata!"

Naruto looked at the note, confused on why people would be telling him such things. Hinata was his friend, why wouldn't he take care of her?

_Are you sure you're just friends? _A voice asked him slyly. Not the Kyuubi, but his own conscience.

Naruto shook himself before reaching for the next present. This was from the Hokage herself. Naruto grinned widely, as he shook the present. The content clanged around, and Naruto tore open the gift to see what she could've gotten him. He looked down to find…

"A medical kit?!?!?!!?!" Naruto exclaimed, "But…but…I'm really bad at medical stuff!"

Naruto picked up the note attached to the kit, and it read:

"Naruto, it's about time you learned at least a little bit about medical techniques. A Hokage has to be able to do anything for their village right? Swing by my office next week, and I'll begin teaching you. Of course…you could always ask Hinata for help, she's one of my best students next to Sakura you know."

Naruto glowed with pride at Tsunade's message. He carefully set the kit on his nightstand before reaching for the next present.

It was from Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto looked at it hesitantly before opening it. A single card fluttered down from the package. Naruto bent down to pick it up. It was in Sasuke's careful handwriting. Naruto read the note carefully:

"Naruto,

I know that for the past couple of months, you've been suffering, and I know it's because of me and Sakura. Whatever it is, please don't pin Sakura for it, it's my fault. I was just too headstrong that night….but it was not to anger you Naruto, it was because I really do care for Sakura. I don't know how well this note can make things up for you, but I hoped it worked.

Sasuke

P.S. Hey Naruto this is Sakura, please don't be mad at Sasuke and I…We're still a team right?"

Naruto looked at the note, and laughed feebly.

"Who would've known that Sasuke could actually open up?" Naruto asked the empty space. He looked down at the present, and saw the picture of Team 7 that they had took when they just started out as genin. It was framed in a gold picture frame, that was very ornate. Naruto laughed again, but this time, with more joy. He set the picture right next to the medical kit.

Naruto decided that he'd open up one last present before going to bed. He sifted through the presents before he found Hinata's. He grinned, remembering that the girl had set up the party for him, and he took his time opening it.

Inside, he found a notebook that seemed to have been used recently. He took the card on top of it, and read it aloud, "'Naruto-kun, I drew these pictures for you…I'm sorry that they're not that good, but I do hope you like them.'"

Naruto opened the notebook and looked at it in amazement. "Hinata's not giving herself enough credit…" He muttered. Each picture had stunning detail, down to the very last speck of dirt. It was a drawn memorandum of the original Rookie Nine, Neji's team, and all their jounin sensei's. He flipped through every page, until he found Hinata's self-portrait. The detail on it was just as exact as the ones before, but this picture seemed to hold a beauty on its own. Naruto just stared at it, thinking about how Hinata looked just as pretty in real life as she was in the picture. Naruto simply laid down on his bed, still staring at the picture of Hinata, and he fell asleep thinking over and over again, _She sure is pretty…_


	8. Hunters' arrival

It was mid-noon in Konoha, and everyone was outside, catching up with friends, buying things, and living their normal lives.

Naruto was among the crowd as well, going in and out of stores, and checking up on the street corner stands as well. The Hokage had given him the day off, and Naruto was enjoying lazing around the village, doing nothing.

He decided to stop off at the Yamanaka's flower shop as he passed by more stores. _Better thank Ino for that book, even though I still don't get what she gave it to me for,_ he thought to himself. Though he had gotten to know the girl over the years, the fact still remained that the blonde-haired kunoichi could kick his ass three ways to Sunday, and he had learned it was always best to thank Ino for whatever she did, no matter how stupid it may have been.

He stopped at the foot of the doorway to the shop, and stared in amazement.

The shop was completely packed. People were piling over each other, trying to get to the counter and check out their purchases, so that they could leave the bustling crowd. Ino was trying her best to help the customers out, while Shikamaru was at the counter, trying to ring up the purchases as fast as he could.

Naruto pushed his way up to the counter, and leapt over the counter top to end up next to Shikamaru.

"Need help?" Naruto asked innocently as he slipped on one of the shop's work aprons.

"You think?" Shikamaru replied sarcastically, before handing over the counter to Naruto.

The rush lasted for a good four hours before it finally died down. After the last customer left, Ino declared that the shop was closed, and the trio began closing up shop. Ino counted the money collected for the day, Shikamaru checked the remaining inventory, and Naruto swept the floor.

When they were done, they left together, Ino hitting the lights off on the way out.

"So, I guess having a girlfriend isn't as troublesome as you say it is, huh Shikamaru?" Naruto asked slyly.

Shikamaru blushed, while Ino laughed.

"Hey, he's only working with me because he loves me," Ino said.

Shikamaru just snorted and looked up at the sky, looking for clouds.

"And what was that supposed to mean?" Ino asked heatedly, her infamous anger beginning to boil.

"So, what are you two lovebirds doing now?" Naruto asked distractingly, trying to avoid a homicide, as the three set off down the road.

"We were going to go eat some quick ramen before we head home, you want to come?" Ino asked. Shikamaru looked at her in amazement and said, "You have to ask?"

Thirty minutes later, they were all sitting at the Ichikaru stand, waiting for their orders to arrive.

"Oh, by the way, thanks for the gifts yesterday guys," Naruto said.

"No problem," Shikamaru muttered.

"Did you read that book yet?" Ino asked imploringly.

Naruto shook his head. He was about to ask Ino why in the world she bought him the book, but the ramen came at that moment, and he quickly averted his attention to the meal before him.

Six bowls of beef ramen later, Naruto was leaning back in his stool, contented. Shikamaru and Ino simply stared at him, amazed at how much he put away.

"I've seen you do that countless times, and I still can't figure out how you do it," Shikamaru remarked.

Naruto grinned and quickly paid for his ramen meal.

"Who knows?" Naruto replied, "Well I'm going to go and leave you two to some quality time."

Shikamaru glared at Naruto, while Ino just smiled and nodded. Naruto headed out the stand, giving one last wave before exiting.

Right as he walked out, he ran into a passerby, and they were both knocked down to the floor. Though Naruto was a touch angry, he got up to help the pedestrian on their feet.

"Thanks Naruto-kun…"

Naruto did a double take as he saw that the person he had bumped into had been Hinata. The thing was, he barely recognized her. She was still wearing her Leaf forehead protector around her neck, but it seems that she had discarded the usual winter coat for a small button down sweater, and underneath, a shirt that fit rather tightly, especially in the area of her chest. Naruto stared in disbelief, thinking about how beautiful Hinata looked, and trying not to think dirty thoughts, before she snapped him back to reality.

"Naruto-kun, anything wrong?"

"Yes… I mean no! No nothing the matter here, everything's just fine. Yup, I'm just chipper. 'Anything wrong'? Why nothing, how could anything be wrong when you're here," Naruto babbled. He suddenly realized what he had just said, but it was too late.

"Wh…what was that last bit?"

"Uh…" Naruto babbled as his mind drew blank, and his eyes continued to roam across her body.

_God damn you, THINK OF SOMETHING!!! _Naruto silently screamed at his dead-pan imagination.

_…Man, Hinata is HOT… _came the response to the plea.

_NO, NOT THAT! _Naruto thought angrily.

While this was going on, his eyes were still roaming, and Hinata started to fidget under his gaze.

"Ummm…I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but Father seems to be calling me. I…I'll see you later?" Hinata said, making the last part seem more like a request than a statement.

Naruto nodded dumbly as Hinata walked passed, crimson red tingeing her cheeks. As she walked away, Naruto instinctively lowered his eyes so he could get a look at her back side.

_Oh man, she is really REALLY hot… _Naruto's subconscious said.

Naruto shook himself and quickly ran the opposite way, but not without a last glance at the retreating form of the Hyuuga heiress.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Naruto muttered as he raced pass the bystanders, "I'm no pervert!"

_But Hinata sure did look nice today…_ he admitted in his thoughts, and he continued running until he ended up at his desired destination, where he promptly laid down from exhaustion and fell asleep, thoughts of Hinata still haunting his mind.

The sound of rushing water could be heard crashing throughout the canyon. The falls were beginning to tinge with a rose color as the retiring sun setting over the Valley of Ends. Passing birds noticed a small figure lying on one of the huge statues facing each other, sleeping peacefully. They paid him no mind, except for one of the flock who as it passed by, decided to land on the leaf-like symbol of the blonde shinobi's forehead protector and also catch up on a quick nap.

Unbeknownst to either of the sleeping pair, two pairs of eyes were watching them.

"So do we go now?" a heavy voice inquired, laced with blood thirst.

"No, let's wait until the prey has awakened, and then…and then my brother, the hunt shall commence!" responded a sly, oily voice.

The dark duo slipped into the shadows, still watching the prone form, eagerly waiting until it awoke.

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well, three chapters up...sorry it took so long...i'm just a really really lazy guy...so sue me...anyway read and review...and tell me if the storyline is moving too fast...sorry, i don't really plan these things out, i just go with the moment


	9. The hunt begins

The sun rose over the horizon and cast its new light upon the Valley of Ends. The shadows slunk away from Naruto's prone form as he continued to sleep peacefully.

The two pairs of eyes reappeared again in the shadows, observing their prey.

"Well, how about now?" asked the bulkier of the two, as he began to finger the blade of his katana, "It's morning…"

"No, Naki, I said we will wait until he has awoken, and then we can strike," replied the other one, much more lithe compared to his other.

"Fine, fine," muttered Naki, as he sheathed his sword for the thousandth time, "But you know Kano? You are really weird you know that? I mean look at him!" he gestured wildly at Naruto, "This is the perfect time to kill him; he won't even know what hit him!"

"Now, now ototo, be patient and control that killing intent of yours, you'll give us away," chided Kano lightly, as his calculating eyes continued to watch the target.

"Fine, fine," the hulk sighed, "And don't call me ototo…not on missions, not at home, and not anywhere!"

"Tsk, tsk. Well, brats will be brats," Kano laughed bitterly.

Naki just griped some more as the two waited for the objective to awaken.

Three hours had passed.

"Now?"

"Nope."

One hour later:

"Now?"

"No."

Noon:

"Aniki…"

" No! Not yet!"

"I have to go to the bathroom…"

"Oh…go ahead…"

Two hours later:

"Oh the relief!"

"Where the hell were you, you baka! It can't take that long to go and take a crap! What, are you having chronic diarrhea?"

"…I thought we agreed we'd never talk about my chronic diarrhea again…"

"Oops… Sorry... Oh come on, don't go and cry…"

Three hours later:

Naki was staring at Naruto, eyes still a little puffy from his tears.

"Damn it, I'm tired of waiting!" He exclaimed. He drew his katana and leapt out of his cover, launching himself fifty meters forward, and landing next to Naruto.

Kano pulled out his kusari-gama and followed, muttering, "Damn him, he's too headstrong."

He landed next to his brother, and found him viciously kicking Naruto to get up.

"Wakie, wakie!" Naki yelled. Naruto finally awoke drowsily, and the first thing he seemed to have noticed was the bird that was still on his forehead protector.

"Hey little guy, when did you get here?"

Naki skewered the bird with a quick thrust of his katana, and was about to announce that he, Naki, would be killing the arrogant little Leaf ninja, when he noticed something odd: the dead bird on his blade was smoking.

"Oh, and by the way big guy," said 'Naruto' as he brushed off the feathers of the dead 'bird', "you should stop talking to kage bunshin," smoke began do come from his body, "especially _bakuretsu _kage bunshin."

With that, the two clones exploded simultaneously, engulfing the area in dust and plume.

About a mile away, the real Naruto was heading back to the village when he heard the explosions go off. He smiled at the bird on his shoulder and said, "Good plan, don't you think?"

The bird twittered in agreement.

As the dust began to clear, two mutilated figures were laying some fifty feet from each other, blood spattering the ground.

Two more figures appeared in a shroud of smoke, and looked down at the corpses.

"Well, our ploy worked, we have a measure of our opposition now, don't we?" asked one of the figures as he retrieved the katana from one of the bodies.

"Yes, though I do think it was a waste of my genjutsu making these idiots think that they were us; in fact, I feel almost offended," responded the other one, swinging the kusari-gama around to test for any damage that might have been caused by the explosion.

"Oh well, now the hunt can begin Naki," stated the second figure, while putting the kusari-gama in its holster on his back

"Yes, it can, Kano, yes it can…" muttered the second one as he sheathed the katana.

The two stared at each other, and then disappeared in another cloud of smoke.

The sun was high in the sky now, shining down on the valley. The only evidence of human disturbance were the large scorch marks, spatters of blood, and two bodies that were beyond any recognition.


	10. Mission and everything after

-Few weeks after the Valley of Ends incident-

"Sakura, you're going to make it just hold on damn it, hold on!"

Naruto was racing through the forest next to Ino and Shikamaru, helping Ino hold Sakura up. Chouji was behind them, covering their rear from advancing enemies.

Sakura suddenly coughed a spurt of blood, and Ino started panicking again, while Naruto was about to do the same.

"Naruto, go behind with Chouji and help him. Ino, shape up and watch out for Sakura," Shikamaru barked out.

Naruto, nearly going blind with rage, only managed a nod before jumping next to Chouji, who had stopped running to face the inevitable tide of foes approaching them.

"Baika no Jutsu!" Chouji screamed as he swelled into a giant ball. He then followed up with his clan's trademark move, Meat Tank.

One of the hostiles, a male shinobi with spiky, long green hair, grinned as the oncoming mass of flesh was directed towards him. As Chouji drew about a yard towards the man, he quickly performed a flurry of hand seals before going on to throwing out his hands in front of him, as if he were going to stop Chouji just like that. Naruto grinned while rushing forward behind Chouji, knowing that that would be stupid.

But surprisingly it did; Chouji suddenly stopped spinning. Not only that, he had returned to normal size, and was clutching at his throat for some reason. Naruto looked at him, and at the green haired shinobi, and suddenly realized who this guy was.

"You fatass, don't you remember what I did to that pink-haired whore of yours? I can control air with my jutsus, so not only can I blast air out, I can suck it in. Right now, your breathing a virtual vacuum, and I could just keep doing this until you suffocate to death. But I'm not, instead I'm going to give you a taste of what your precious comrade felt, and kill you with that. Take care of that blond one," the ninja said, the last statement directed toward his comrades.

Naruto was suddenly surrounded by four other shinobi, each one performing different hand seals. But Naruto's attention wasn't focused on that; it was drawn towards the deathly screams coming from Chouji, and the cruel laughter of that green haired bastard.

_First, I let him take Sakura and damn near kill her, and now, I'm letting him kill Chouji…Damn it, I can't let this happen, I can't, I can't, I CAN'T!!!!_

With that thought, Naruto's sight was suddenly washed over with red, and he could feel the familiar power of the Kyuubi fill him.

_It's about time kid…_

The next few minutes for Naruto were nothing more that a haze of blood, body parts, and screams.

He awoke sometime later, but kept his eyes closed. Everything seemed to be so comfortable. His teammates must've taken him back to his apartment after the mission, but then, he could be wrong. He thought about it, as he still had his eyes closed. A warm, soft bed, check. Smell of must and dirt, check. Taste of morning breath, check. Constant beeping of medical equipment, check.

_Yea, that's the norm…wait a second…constant beeping of medical equipment?_

Naruto's eyes flew open as he quickly assessed his surroundings.

"Oh, you've got to me joking me…" Naruto muttered.

Sure enough, he was in a hospital. And not just any hospital, but the ever-so-familiar Konoha hospital.

"KUSO!!!!!!" Naruto screamed, "Why am I always finding myself here?!?!?!! And why does the bed always smell so funny!"

A familiar face than came popping from the doorway, looking worried.

"Naruto-kun, are you alright?"

"Hinata!" Naruto lit up at the sight of his friend.

"H…Hello…" she muttered in response, all the while, a blush forming around her cheeks.

_What do I say now? _Naruto thought dumbly as he kept his trademark grin on his face.

There was nothing but silence between the two.


	11. Nightmare

"Gomen, Naruto-kun! Gomen, gomen, gomen, gomen, gomen…"

"Hinata, I said it was ok, please, stop!"

"Gomen…"

"Hinata…"

"Go…I mean…oh…"

It was three days after Naruto had gotten out of the hospital, and the sun was shining high above the pair. Naruto was laying down on the ground, from what seemed to be a painful punch in the head, while Hinata stood over, blushing and twiddling her fingers.

Naruto carefully touched the bump on his head. After making sure he was alright, he jumped back up onto his feet, crouching back into a fighting stance.

"Ok Hinata, break's over, let's go again."

Hinata seemed like she was about to protest, but thought better of it. She went into the Jyuuken stance and nodded.

Naruto rushed her with a flying side kick. She deftly dodged and attempted to strike his passing form, only to time the blow wrong, and finding herself hitting empty air. Naruto had regained his composure by then, and was aiming for her exposed back. She quickly ducked in time to evade what would have been a painful right hook. She continued by grabbing the arm with one hand while making a sweeping kick to his knees.

He quickly pulled himself from the hold and jumped up and delivered a smashing kick to Hinata's chest. She caught it and flipped him over. He fell on his stomach, and felt a weight on his back. He heard a giggle and a voice followed after it, "I guess I win Naruto-kun."

He grinned and replied, still face down in the dirt, "Hinata, get off, you're heavy."

He laughed as he imagined the indignant face that Hinata must've been wearing as she snorted. She laughed along as well. Naruto continued to laugh, while thinking how glad he was that he had finally been able to get Hinata to lighten up. The two friends continued to laugh in the training field as the birds flew by, singing, almost as if to join the pair in their laughter.

Naruto continued to laugh, but he could feel something in himself stirring. He recognized in a heart beat, and was willing himself to push it back down.

_Too late…_

Naruto could feel himself being taken over. His mind was locked up within itself as the kitsune took over.

_Now for some real fun…_

It opened his eyes to stare at Hinata, who was still laughing. It forced him to watch, as it grabbed her delicate throat and thrust his free hand into her heart. It forced him to witness this, to feel this murder, all the while laughing at him, as the heiress' blood dripped down from its hands…no, his hands.

Naruto woke up in a cold sweat. He looked down upon his hands, and saw no blood. He broke down right then and there, recalling the horrible dream, and wondering aloud, "What the hell is going on?"

* * *

Been a while, well heres the next part, read review, flames are allowed..and some suggestions would be nice 


	12. Seals and Suggestions

"…Interesting," mumbled Tsunade as she tapped her lips thoughtfully with her pen.

" 'Interesting'? 'Interesting'! Is that all you have to say, you old hag? I'm losing my goddamn mind, and all you can manage to say, is 'interesting'!" Naruto yelled in reply, his fist slamming on her desk with every pause for breath.

The woman looked at the shinobi in front of her, completely calm. He would've ranted more, if it weren't for one thing; the Hokage had not reacted in the slightest bit when he had called her an old hag. Something was not right at all.

"Naruto, have you looked at your seal at all lately?" she asked quietly, pen still tapping her full lips.

"No…" Naruto answered uncertainly, "Why would I? It's always been there."

"Take a look now."

He obeyed silently, lifting up his jacket and undershirt to reveal the seal which sealed off the powerful demon inside. What he saw was something he had never seen.

The swirl of the seal was still there, but the rest seemed to have been erased and replaced with a rough sketch of the Kyuubi, circling the swirl. Its mouth was open at the end of the swirl, as if preparing to devour the seal. Its multiple tails stretched far across his body, the middle tail snaking all the way to his left pectoral and the other ones fanning out around it. His eyes widened, and he looked up at the older woman for answers.

"This is bad…" the blonde kunoichi muttered, and began speaking, cutting of a possible outbreak from Naruto, "Naruto, it seems, because of your continuous use of the Nine-tails' powers, it's been able to crack through the seals placed on it. It's not your fault of course, as you are the one ninja in Konoha that is put under continuous hazardous conditions, but because of that, the biggest threat known to Konoha is about to become a reality yet again."

Naruto looked at her for a moment, not wishing to believe it. His eyes seemed to beg for a way to stop this before it happened. He finally found the words in his mind and willed them to come out, "Is there anything we can do?" When he saw her shake her head, it seemed as if everything had crashed down around him. He stared down at the floor, anger swelling to enormous heights. He had too much to live for…his dream of Hokage…his teammates, his friends…Hinata. The thought of not being able to see the pale skinned girl's face, or worse, seeing it bloodied by his own cursed hands, made him want to vomit. He had to find a way, something, something to save the village, and Hinata, from him. He had to do something…even if it cost him his life.

The answer came in a rush of harsh reality to the shinobi. He knew there was no other way then this. He raised his gaze back to the person in front of him, his leader, a mentor, and one of the many friends he was planning on saving. His eyes were devoid of any fear or doubt; just a sheer determination, that seemed to take the Godaime by surprise.

"Hokage-sama, I have an idea…"

its been what...almost half a year since i last updated or something...school gets in the way, but now the evil from hell is almost done, and i can get back to writing this crap excuse of a fic..anyway, hope this moves the plot and clears somethings up for ya'll, nothing real fancy coming up soon ,just some talking and development, but dont worry, the action stuff will come later..soo, read, review, good, bad, neutral, whatever


	13. New Jutsu

The forest reverberated with sound of clashing metal and yells.

Naruto was training with Sasuke, an event that had become common sight a week after the blonde's meeting with the Hokage. He was trying his best to keep his emotions in check, as he dashed towards the Uchiha again. The calculating dark eyes followed the movement, and the prodigy quickly leaped in the air, over Naruto, while launching a flurry of shurikens. Naruto spun, and threw his own shurikens in response, each of the instruments clanging against each other in a harmony of discord.

As the metal fell harmlessly to the ground, each of the opponents began a set of seals.

_Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger._

_Horse, Ram, Tiger, Bird, Hare._

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

"Hyouton: Fibiki no Jutsu!"

An eruption of flames came from the raven-haired boys mouth, and blossomed into a huge fireball. At the same time, the blonde sucked in a large amount of air, and blew it back out; as it came out, his chakra manipulated the outgoing gust into a cold snapping wind, so that the path of air became a miniature snow storm, as it began to freeze over the moisture in the effected area. The two jutsus collided, and the area was covered in a huge, shrouding mist. As the moist clouds dissipated, only one was present.

Sasuke looked around cautiously, knowing that his opponent could be anywhere.

He never expected him to drop out of the sky.

Naruto came down with a devastating kick to the top of Sasuke's head, only to wince, as his foot connected with a log. He recovered quickly enough, and sent chakra to the bottom of his feet, sticking to the log in the process. He followed through the kick with a front flip. At the peak of the flip, he released the log, launching back upwards, into Sasuke, who had been trying to drop down on Naruto, just as Naruto tried to do to him. The log slammed into him, knocking the breath from him completely.

Naruto threw his right hand up, palm facing Sasuke. He began building up his chakra into a central point, and made it spin around it.

"Rasengan!"

The blue sphere of chakra was ready in under two seconds. Naruto then began to make a thin outer casing of chakra for the ball. Once that was complete, he poured more chakra into the ball inside, causing a slight instability that was enough to throw the ball into a wild spin. He then applied a separate layer of chakra in his palm, just under the Rasengan. He aimed for a second, and then had the layer in his palm explode, launching the chakra sphere at his opponent.

Sasuke looked in surprise. He had just thrown off the log, when he saw Naruto fire his Rasengan. He could not believe that he was going to die, by the hands of his friend no less, when the ball met its target…

And dissipated harmlessly.

Sasuke looked down at himself, and then at Naruto, before feeling gravity pull on him. He landed sloppily on his feet, and stared at Naruto, who was on the floor laughing.

"You should have seen your face! It was priceless."

Sasuke simply gave him the finger while he brushed himself off. He looked up at the sky, and said, "Let's go moron, it's getting late."

Naruto gave him a grin and told him to go on ahead. His companion shrugged and waved good-bye, before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto's grin quickly disappeared as he walked farther into the woods, where no one would see him. He quickly found a spot, and got straight to business.

_I have to perfect this jutsu. I have to perfect it!_

His chakra began to build rapidly as he began the training. Around him, nature itself seemed to fear the power emitting from his body, and was thrown in chaos. Trees were whipped around, birds were scattering, and the clouds of a storm thundered above. The rain fell around him heavily, but he did not notice. He kept his attention solely on the jutsu at hand and the target of the jutsu, in this case a rock.

A large explosion of chakra flashed, engulfing the area in a blinding light before settling down. Naruto lay panting and looking at the rock, which had been reduced to nothing more then rubble. He stared at it for a second, before pound his fist on the ground in frustration.

"Damnit…" he muttered, before knocking unconscious. Around him the rain continued to fall, blanketing the shinobi in cloak of rivulets. In the trees, two dark figures looked at each other solemnly and jumped, straight towards the prone form.

yup, here we go...a very fillerish type thing, but got to update right?


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